At the end of a busy month of transfer movement and coaching staff additions, Ohio State coach Ryan Day appeared on the airwaves of 97.1 The Fan on Friday evening for an offseason edition of The Ryan Day Show.
Speaking publicly for the first time in a month following Ohio State’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Miami, Day expressed excitement about the roster and coaching staff the Buckeyes have built for the 2026 season.
Over the course of the hourlong show, Day commented on all of Ohio State’s position groups as well as the additions of new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton. Below, we’ve compiled all of his most notable comments from the show, sorted by position group and topic.
Quarterbacks
- Day believes Ohio State has the best quarterback in the country coming back with Julian Sayin returning for his second season as Ohio State’s starter. “Julian is going to have a huge offseason. Julian is really going to dive into this thing and take the next step.”
- Tavien St. Clair “is someone that really has to step up for us” now that he’s Ohio State’s No. 2 quarterback, Day said. “He's going to have to be right there behind Julian and be ready to go.”
- On transfer quarterback Justyn Martin: “I think he's an interesting guy. He's a good athlete that we need to have depth in that room. And he understands the position. But at the same time, he's not going to take a backseat to anybody.”
Running Backs
- Bo Jackson and Isaiah West will both miss the spring after undergoing shoulder surgeries, but he believes both of them can be three-down backs for Ohio State as sophomores.
- Day thinks Florida transfer Ja’Kobi Jackson has “a lot of talent.”
- Day believes Legend Bey can be a “poor man’s Tyreek Hill … He’s lightning in a bottle.”
Wide Receivers
- On Jeremiah Smith’s return for another season: “The best receiver in college football is back in Columbus, and that's a big deal for all of us. He makes everybody on the field better every day.”
- Day said Brandon Inniss “needs to take the next step for us, and he knows that.”
- The Buckeyes felt they needed to get “older and more experienced” at the Z receiver position, prompting them to bring in UTSA transfer Devin McCuin and LSU transfer Kyle Parker.
- Day said McCuin had some “wow plays” when he watched McCuin play against Texas A&M.
- Phillip Bell has “shown a lot of promise” and is “somebody we think can really help us,” Day said.
- De’zie Jones simulated Malachi Toney on the scout team before the Miami game and “that was the best he looked coming off of his injury,” Day said.
- David Adolph is back for another season, Day confirmed.
- Freshman wide receivers Chris Henry Jr. and Jerquaden Guilford are “really talented,” Day said.
- Day expects freshman wide receiver Brock Boyd to “come in here and compete his tail off.”
- Day said the Buckeyes “want to play with three wide receivers in the game as many times as we can and mix in the tight ends.”
Tight Ends
- Bennett Christian is “a tremendous leader for us,” Day said.
- Nate Roberts is “as talented a young tight end as we’ve had in awhile,” Day said.
- Day wants to see Brody Lennon and Max LeBlanc to step up and prove they can play this season.
- On Northwestern transfer Hunter Welcing: “We think he can provide a bunch of stuff for us.” Day was impressed by how well Welcing played in Northwestern’s loss to Michigan, in which he caught four passes for 81 yards.
- Day said Ohio transfer Mason Williams has “the right mentality” and “a toughness to him.”
Offensive Line
- Upgrading the offensive line through the transfer portal “really wasn’t in play,” Day said, because “it took everything we had to get the guys to come back” and Ohio State believes it has what it needs on the offensive line.
- On the offensive line’s play in 2025: “We didn't play our best in the last couple games There's a lot of things that I think played into that, that we got to get better at, but for the majority of the year, we were strong.”
- Day said Ohio State is excited about Ian Moore and “think that he can really give us something.”
- Ohio State needs Joshua Padilla and Gabe VanSickle to “take the next step” at right guard and right tackle Phillip Daniels to “take the next step,” Day said.
- Jake Cook “has shown a lot of things for us,” Day said.
- Day believes the Buckeyes are as deep along the offensive line as they’ve been for awhile. He said the Buckeyes will experiment with different combinations along the offensive line this offseason since several of their linemen can play multiple positions.
Defensive Line
- Day said Qua Russaw brings the versatility to play both defensive end and linebacker and “brings a lot of pass-rush ability.”
- On Russaw and James Smith coming from Alabama: “Obviously, with that program, they know kind of what the stakes are and so very, very serious about coming in here.”
- Day believes Ohio State has a good returning group at defensive end with Kenyatta Jackson Jr. Beau Atkinson, Zion Grady and Epi Sitaneli coming back.
- Day said Will Smith Jr. and Eddrick Houston “got to step up for us” at defensive tackle.
Linebackers
- Day said Christian Alliegro stood out to him when Ohio State played Wisconsin because of how hard and physical he played and how well he diagnosed plays. He was wowed by Alliegro’s toughness in that game, in which he broke his hand but came back into the game.
- Day said the Buckeyes feel “really good” about their returning linebackers, including Payton Pierce, Riley Pettijohn, TJ Alford and Eli Lee, but he felt like they needed to add one linebacker with Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese leaving.
Cornerbacks
- Jay Timmons and Jordan Thomas are “already off to a good start in winter workouts,” Day said.
- Day felt the Buckeyes needed to add someone with experience at cornerback, which they got with Alabama transfer Cam Calhoun.
- Day is “really excited” about the potential of Georgia transfer Dominick Kelly. “He can cover at a high level, a very intelligent player, and he has three years left.”
Safeties
- Day said Duke transfer Terry Moore is a “dynamite player” who has “great range.”
- Florida State transfer Earl Little Jr. has “a lot of versatility” to where he can play both nickel and safety, Day said.
Special Teams
- Day is happy to have Joe McGuire back at punter. “He really gets the ball out quickly and does a nice job.”
- Transfer kicker Connor Hawkins “came highly recommended from those who live in the kicking world,” Day said.
- Ohio State thinks UCF transfer Dalton Riggs is “the best long snapper in the country.”
New Coaches
- Day said Ohio State “looked at everybody in the country” in its search for a new wide receivers coach. He said Ohio State brought Cortez Hankton in for a visit and after he met with the receivers, “they were all nodding their head like, ‘This is our guy.’
- “It doesn't take long for you to spend some time with him to realize just how intelligent he is, how much he relates well to the players,” Day said of Hankton.
- Day didn’t identify Ohio State’s offensive coordinator hire by name, as Arthur Smith’s hiring has not yet been officially announced, but he thinks Ohio State “hit a home run” by hiring Smith. Day said he received a lot of text messages after hiring Smith telling him that he made a “great hire.”
- Day said he thought about promoting Keenan Bailey to offensive coordinator, noting Bailey’s loyalty in staying at Ohio State when he’s had opportunities to be an offensive coordinator elsewhere, but he “felt like going into this season in particular, we needed somebody with some play-calling experience that really could kind of take over that room and allow me to kind of step back.”
- Day said quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler and offensive line coach Tyler Bowen also had opportunities to be offensive coordinators elsewhere, but stayed loyal to Ohio State.
Transfer Portal Philosophy
- Day thinks it’s important to make sure Ohio State continues to recruit “really good high school prospects” and develop them at a high level. He doesn’t want the Buckeyes to have a “year-to-year roster.”
- “I don't think people quite realize the amount of resources it takes to retain a roster of starting players at Ohio State, because everybody in the country wants those guys,” Day said.
- Day thinks some of the players who entered the transfer portal this year would have entered the portal last year if Ohio State hadn’t made a run to the national championship, leading to a higher number of portal exits this year.
- “I think it’s been a good portal run for us. Fit the needs that we needed to. Made sure that we were thoughtful about it. But also there's a lot of other things to take into consideration. You can't just go wild with some of the stuff you have to do.”
2026 Freshman Class
- Day doesn’t know if Ohio State will sign as many players in future recruiting classes after signing 28 freshmen this year.
- Day believes the players Ohio State signed are players who want to be at Ohio State, who want to graduate from Ohio State and who want to win the rivalry game and win championships at Ohio State. “I think if you talk to people in the program and in the building right now, they're very impressed with the makeup of these guys.”
Spring Football
- Day said Ohio State will start spring practice on March 10 and conclude with the spring game on April 18. He said the Buckeyes will determine what the spring game will look like “as we get closer.”
- Day is excited that all but one of Ohio State’s 2026 freshmen enrolled early (offensive lineman Tucker Smith), giving the Buckeyes a full roster for spring practice.
